wood

plural woods

1. uncountableThe substance making up the central part of the trunk and branches of a tree. Used as a material for construction, to manufacture various items, etc. or as fuel.

   This table is made of wood.

   4 more examples

   There was lots of wood on the beach.

   O that men / (Canſt thou believe ?) ſhould be ſo ſtupid grown, / While yet the Patriark liv’d, who ſcap’d the Flood, / As to forſake the living God, and fall / To worſhip thir own work in Wood and Stone / For Gods !

   1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 1006–11

   He stood transfixed before the unaccustomed view of London at night time, a vast panorama which reminded him […] of some wood engravings far off and magical, in a printshop in his childhood.

   1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC

   Africa’s growing demand for wood products presents an opportunity to build a resilient bioeconomy that creates jobs, strengthens local industries and reduces pressure on natural forests. Wood remains one of Africa’s most vital natural resources, supporting livelihoods, economic development and industrial growth across the continent. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020, more than 600 million Africans depend on forests and trees for their livelihoods, relying on wood value chains for employment, energy, construction materials and income generation. The sector supports industries such as furniture manufacturing, paper production, packaging, electricity transmission, housing and construction. In rural Africa, wood and tree-based systems also provide fuel and income, forming a cornerstone of household survival. As population growth and urbanization accelerate, demand for wood products is rising sharply, creating both opportunities and challenges for sustainable development. Harnessing this potential could position the wood sector as a driver of economic transformation and green growth. At the centre of this opportunity is the idea of a resilient wood-based bioeconomy, an approach that sustainably uses renewable biological resources like wood and forest products to produce materials, energy and services while safeguarding ecosystem health.

   2026 June 12, Jane Mutune, Peter Minang, “Building a resilient wood-based bioeconomy in Africa”, in Forest News

   Synonyms: timber

2. countableThe wood from a particular species of tree.

   Teak is much used for outdoor benches, but a number of other woods are also suitable, such as ipé, redwood, etc.

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   A few woods, such as cedar and redwood, are prized for their rugged naturalness and they age so beautifully that they are generally left unfinished.

   1980, Robert M. Jones, editor, Walls and Ceilings, Time-Life Books, →ISBN, page 93

3. countableoftenA forested or wooded area.

   He got lost in the woods beyond Seattle.

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   A wood beyond this moor was viewed as a border area in the seventeenth century.

   Macbeth ſhall neuer vanquiſh’d be, vntill / Great Byrnam Wood, to high Dunſmane Hill / Shall come againſt him.

   c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 144, column 2, lines 92–94

   “There upon the hill, close by the wood, did I act the elf-maiden,” said Sophie.

   1845, Hans Christian Andersen, translated by Mary Howitt, Only a Fiddler! and O.T., volume II, London: Richard Bentley, page 298

   Synonyms: woods, forest, woodland, forest, woods, woodland, wood lot

4. countableuncountableFirewood.

   We need more wood for the fire.

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   We toted in the wood and got the fire going nice and comfortable. Lord James still set in one of the chairs and Applegate had cabbaged the other and was hugging the stove.

   1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

   Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame.

   2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4

5. countablegolfA type of golf club, the head of which was traditionally made of wood.
6. countableuncountableentertainmentA woodwind instrument.
7. slanguncountableAn erection of the penis.

   That girl at the strip club gave me wood.

8. slanguncountableboard gamesChess pieces.

   […] White has nothing but a lot of frozen wood on the board while Black operates on the Q-side.

   1971, Chess Life & Review, volume 26, page 309

present singular third person woods · participle present wooding · participle past wooded · past wooded

1. transitiveTo cover or plant with trees.

   Their be ii good bellys, a chales, and a few veſtments of litil valure, the ſtuff beſide is not worth xl s. lead ther ys non except in ii gutters the which the p’or hath convey’d in to ye town, but that is ſuar yt is metely wodey’d in hege rowys.

   1542, Sir Richard Devereux, letter, in Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica, London: J. Nichols, published 1792, page 155

2. intransitivereflexiveTo hide behind trees.

   1 more example

   Immediatly, the other boate lying ready with their shot to skoure the place for our hand weapons to lande upon, which was presently done, although the land was very high and steepe, the Savages forthwith quitted the shoare, and betooke themselves to flight: wee landed, and having faire and easily followed for a smal time after them, who had wooded themselves we know not where […]

   c. 1586, Sir Ralph Lane, “Lane’s Account of the Englishmen Left in Virginia”, in Henry Sweetser Burrage, editor, Early English and French Voyages: Chiefly from Hakluyt, 1534–1608, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1906, page 246

3. transitiveTo supply with wood, or get supplies of wood for.

   to wood a steamboat or a locomotive

   1 more example

   Many passengers would save a little by helping to “wood the boat,” i. e., by carrying wood down the bank and throwing it on the boat, a special ticket being issued on that condition.

   1891 November 28, John Bidwell, “The First Emigrant Train to California”, in Josiah Gilbert Holland, Richard Watson Gilder, editors, The Century Magazine, volume XLI, number 1, Scribner & Company, page 106

4. intransitiveTo take or get a supply of wood.

   In this little Iſle of Mevis, more than twenty Years ago, I have remained a great time together, to Wood and Water and refreſh my Men […]

   c. 1629, Captain John Smith, chapter XXVII, in The True Travels, Adventures, and Observations of Captain John Smith, volume II, London: Awnsham and John Churchill, published 1704, page 409

comparative wooder · superlative woodest · alternative wode

1. archaicMad, insane, crazed.

   And then he flue on hir as he were wood, / And on hir breeche did hack and foyne a-good.

   1593, Thomas Nashe, The Choice of Valentines, lines 140-141

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   And like a lion wood amongst them fares, Dealing his dreadfull blowes with large dispence

   1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

   How the young whelpe of Talbots raging wood, / Did fleſh his punie-ſword in Frenchmens blood.

   1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vii], page 114, column 1

   A fearsome sight it was to behold how he swelled in his wrath, and his eyes blazed like disastrous stars at midnight, and being wood with anger he gnashed his teeth till the froth stood at his lips and slavered down his chin.

   1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 27

plural woods

1. USoffensiveslangsometimesA peckerwood.

   He further stated that "I can't remember ever seeing a wood [white inmate] assault a nigger without being provoked".

   1991, Mary E. Pelz, James W. Marquart and Terry Pelz, "Right-Wing Extremism in the Texas Prisons: The Rise and Fall of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas", The Prison Journal, Winter-Fall 1991

   2 more examples

   Other than shout-outs to fellow "woods," I found no references on their record to racism, and after getting to know the members, I think Woodpile's message is the opposite of what the L.A. Times construed it to be — they want to bring hardcore white guys to rap music, rather than alienating anyone of any race.

   2009, Brendan Joel Kelly, “Pride vs. Power”, in The Phoenix New Times

   The only thing is, even though there are ways to remain neutral, to just be a wood and not get caught up in the white supremacist gang stuff, you do have to take a side if things get bad.

   2011, Christian Workman, Black Boxed: Coming of Age Behind Prison Walls

plural Woods

1. countableuncountableAn English topographic surname for someone who lived in or near a wood.
2. countableuncountableA surname originating as an occupation for a woodsman.
3. A number of places in the United States:
   1. countableuncountableA township in Clark County, Indiana.
   2. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Clayton County, Iowa.
   3. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in DeKalb County, Missouri.
   4. countableuncountableAn inactive township in Wright County, Missouri.
   5. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Franklin County, North Carolina.
   6. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Bedford County, Fulton County and Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania.
   7. countableuncountableA township in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania.
   8. countableuncountableA small town in Mellette County, South Dakota.
   9. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Mason County, West Virginia.
   10. countableuncountableA town in Wood County, Wisconsin.
4. A place in the United Kingdom:
   1. countableuncountableA hamlet in Ashill parish, Somerset, England (OS grid ref ST3117).
   2. countableuncountableA hamlet in Nolton and Roch community, Pembrokeshire, Wales (OS grid ref SM8522).